by Ike Hamill
I blinked and looked at the muddy footprints. If I hadn’t spent so much time in the woods, I might have stopped them. If I hadn’t been undone by the fish, I might have been one of the victims. The whole thing seemed so random.
I tried to stop the bleeding of one of the boys. He was the only one who seemed to have any chance of survival at all.
He died after a few minutes. The last of his blood seeped between my fingers.
I sat there, looking at the fire, and surrounded by the dead.
Whatever that stump managed to whisper was enough to get those men to betray their friends. He might have tantalized them fortunes, or suggested that he could get them the same immortality that he was suffering from.
It’s almost impossible to fathom how anyone would want the fate of Rex. His body was so tenacious that it could cling to life in that shape. The idea should have been horrifying and repulsive, but it still attracted those men.
The man who had agitated for the vote—I have no idea how he was swayed. I know that the translator whispered to him in the night. I remember when one of others asked them to be quiet because their whispers were keeping the children awake. I assumed at the time that the translator was helping Rex plead his case.
Maybe he was. Maybe that’s how Rex persuaded them to kill everyone and then carry him off. Maybe it was their own idea and they took Rex as their captive.
As I packed and then retreated back into the woods, I realized that the man had been right. The Optioners were inhuman. They were demons sent as the last temptation of mankind to see who should descend into hell. The devil found two more minions that night.
Chapter 34
{Trial}
MADELYN PAUSED AND SWEPT her eyes over the gallery. All of these people would be her jury. Some had lived through those events and some weren’t born until decades after. Her story had been her lame attempt to let them see the world from her eyes. Looking at them, she could tell that they hadn’t been swayed.
“That’s what Ryan and those others would have done. They were trying to take the Option over there in Building Three. They would have betrayed you all eventually. Once you give into that greed for life, it consumes you. It’s no longer enough to live and let live. The Optioners have to take away what normal people have because they believe that you’re breathing in air that they will eventually want to breathe. They lose the desire to share.”
Madelyn stopped again. Her words weren’t sinking in.
“Madelyn,” Cleo said, “I suspect that nearly everyone in this room has heard you say all of this before. When you were trapped in the cellar of your cabin, you told your life story several times and we listened. It’s not a question of whether or not there are bad people in the world. It’s a question of whether you unjustly murdered the citizens in that building.”
“Murder?” Madelyn asked. “You’re starting with the wrong premise. Once they decided to take the Option, those weren’t even people. You can’t murder a demon. You can only send it back to hell where it belongs.”
As her words echoed in the room, she realized her mistake. Cleo had backed her into a corner and made her lash out at the dead. She should have told them that she never intended to kill. Elijah had made her overcome her apathy. She was trying to save them when the building collapsed. Madelyn realized that she had been defeated by her own anger.
“You caused that building to fall,” Cleo stated.
“Yes,” Madelyn confirmed.
“Carter, Oliver, Alexandra, Patton, Luca, and Horatio were all trapped inside,” Cleo said.
“Yes,” Madelyn said. She wasn’t sure of the names of all the people, but they must have been right. “Elijah too, as far as I know.”
“They were all trapped inside and you escaped,” Cleo said.
Madelyn turned up her hands. She had no idea. She remembered the building coming down, and then she remembered waking to the pain. They had put forth a minimal effort to keep her alive. Madelyn suspected that Jacob and Harper were responsible for that. Without them, the others might have killed her while she was in a coma. They had already judged her, even before hearing her side of the story.
Cleo turned to the audience. “All those who declare a guilty verdict?”
The agreement was like thunder. Madelyn’s eyes were focused on Jacob and Harper.
“Innocent?”
Her nephew and her nephew’s girlfriend were nearly the only ones who agreed with the idea of Madelyn’s innocence.
Cleo nodded. “The court sentences you to be hanged by the neck until you are dead. Your body will be on display for the vultures for one week and then your remains will be thrown to the scavengers on the south side of the old river. Dismissed.”
Cleo’s men came to stand behind Madelyn. The crowd rose and a million conversations broke out. Madelyn kept her eyes locked with Jacob’s. She lost him as the others began to mill towards the exits.
Jacob and Harper approached as close as they were allowed. Madelyn’s guards stood her up.
“We’re going to find those girls you rescued,” Harper said. Jacob nodded. “With their testimony, they’ll have to reconsider.”
A hand pulled Madelyn backwards.
Chapter 35
{Punishment}
MADELYN WOKE UP WITH her hand on one of the cold bars. She ran her thumb over the weld. It was the best one she had done. The ripples were perfect. The colors transitioned from blue to purple and back. She moved her eyes around the jail cell. If she hadn’t done such a good job at constructing the place, she might have had a chance of getting out.
Madelyn raised her head at the sound of footsteps on the stairs.
Cleo pushed through the door. She rolled out the moldy chair from behind the jailer’s desk. She sat down with a sigh.
“Do you remember the first time I came to visit you down here?” Cleo asked.
Before her trial, Madelyn had enjoyed a nice bed with white sheets on Flower Street. They hadn’t treated her wounds, but they had given her a nice bed. Now that she was officially guilty, she was back in the cell.
“Yes,” Madelyn said. “I think you told me that without rules this whole place would fall apart.”
“We have a delicate system. And you’re right—without rules, the system falls apart. It brings me no joy to see you punished. Retribution doesn’t make our clan stronger, but it’s necessary so that we don’t become weaker.”
Madelyn laughed at her.
Cleo’s face hardened.
“You have a delicate system, but you’re not worried about your number one commander who disappeared after running some strange experiment. It’s more important to hang me for alleged crimes that have no witnesses.”
“You were fairly tried and convicted,” Cleo said.
“You need someone to take the blame,” Madelyn said. “You can’t have the citizens out there questioning why you put all your faith into one man who ran secret operations and then disappeared.”
“All of his operations were secret. It’s the nature of the job.”
“You should have lied,” Madelyn said. “You should have lied and said that Ryan’s body was recovered in the rubble of Building Three. It would have been a lot less worry for you in the long run.”
Cleo started to get up.
“You’re worried he’ll come back,” Madelyn said.
Cleo left Madelyn alone again.
She returned her thumb to the weld and shook her head. Cleo had come to tell her something—maybe confess something—and she had driven her away with belligerence. It was probably for the best. If Cleo had guilt in her heart, Madelyn had no desire to let her expel it.
Madelyn had nothing to do but wait. No matter what position she took, her muscles refused to relax. They tensed and bunched and caused her misery. She could smell her own nervous sweat. Had they left anything sharp in the cell, Madelyn would have relieved them of the duty of taking her life.
# # # # #
Her guard stood there, looki
ng down on her for a second before he spoke.
“Care to relieve yourself first?” he asked.
“No, thanks,” Madelyn said. “I don’t want to spare the crowd a spectacle.”
“Put your hands behind your back and slide them through the hole,” he said.
Madelyn thought about struggling, but she didn’t see the point. Her body was already full of aches and pains. She contended with injuries from the building collapse, and a sleepless night in a jail cell. She didn’t have the energy for another struggle. She stood and complied.
The man tightened a plastic cuff around her wrists before he unlocked the door. He guided her towards the stairs.
“Where are the gallows, anyway?” she asked. If they were going to make her walk all the way across town, she might decide to go limp so he had to carry her. In fact, that might be a good time to relieve herself.
“Loading dock,” he said.
“Oh,” she said. Now that he mentioned it, she knew the place. She had seen it once at the back of the old shopping center. They had a platform with an arm above it. She had figured it was a place where they could pluck an engine from a vehicle. Apparently, the people of Fairbanks cared more about death than rebuilding.
It was a short walk.
When he opened the doors, the light made Madelyn blink. She heard the crowd before she saw them.
They were stacked up all the way to the edge of the woods. It looked like the whole town had come out for the hanging. She saw more faces than even at the trial.
Cleo stood next to the platform. A noose hung down from the arm.
Once Madelyn was pushed out into the light, Cleo wasted no time.
“You have been sentenced to be hanged by the neck until you’re dead. Do you have any last words?”
“Not for you,” Madelyn said to Cleo. She turned to the group. “But for them.”
Her guard pressed her forward.
Madelyn raised her voice.
“You better learn to question your leader,” Madelyn yelled. “You’ve forgotten how to be suspicious, and how to survive. There’s poison flowing through the veins of this community.”
The crowd had been silent. As Madelyn spoke, murmurs and disputes rippled through the group.
Two men lifted Madelyn under her armpits and set her feet on a stool. When she kicked at it, they lifted her higher. Another person on a ladder slipped the noose around her neck.
She fought them so she could continue shouting her message.
“You’re all going to die because you’ve been blinded by complacency. Ryan is a dirty Optioner and he’s still out there. You think he’s going to let you live?”
“Wait!” someone from the crowd yelled.
Madelyn looked down as everyone began to turn towards the woods.
Harper and Jacob emerged and they were helping two women. They were the two young women who Madelyn had helped escape. They were the witnesses she had needed during her trial.
The noose was tightened around her neck.
Madelyn’s feet found the stool as the men withdrew their support. She had to stand on her toes to keep the rope’s pressure off of her throat.
“Wait!” Jacob yelled.
It hurt Madelyn’s neck to look down at him, but she did.
“We’ve got the witnesses,” Harper yelled. “These two saw it all. Madelyn is innocent.”
The crowd bubbled with conversations.
Cleo stepped forward to the front of the platform.
“I saw it all,” Amelia said. “Ryan was running some terrible experiment. She wanted to stop him.” Amelia pointed up at Madelyn.
Cleo raised her arms until the group fell silent.
The sea of people parted, allowing Jacob and Harper to help the two young women to the front. Madelyn couldn’t even see them anymore. She couldn’t look that far down.
Cleo spoke with a low voice so everyone had to strain to hear her.
“We’re all thrilled by the return of these two brave young women, and I’m sure that we’re all eager to hear their testimony,” Cleo said. She backed up until she was even with Madelyn.
“But this woman has been tried and convicted. Her sentence has been decided by all of us and her punishment begun.”
She was so close that Madelyn could have wrapped her legs around Cleo and attempted to squeeze the life from her. She didn’t. She wanted to hear what Cleo would say next.
Cleo looked up. Madelyn could only see her eyes. She realized what Cleo intended to do.
“We all know the law,” Cleo said.
For an old lady, she had pretty decent balance. She leaned back and kicked the stool out from underneath Madelyn’s feet.
Madelyn fell until the noose tightened around her throat.
The silent crowd watched her swing.
# # # # #
Ike Hamill
January, 2016
Topsham, Maine
ABOUT MADELYN’S MISTAKE
I hope you enjoyed reading more about Madelyn and the community. Compared to Madelyn’s Nephew, this book leaves a lot of moving parts at the end. The third book, Madelyn’s Last Dance, will tie up all those loose ends. It’s on sale now—go grab a copy!
When I started telling her story, I didn’t want to bog everything down with a ton of details of the world before. In this book, I tried to work in a few more of those stories. I could go on and on with my thoughts about that transition, but I figured it would be more interesting to follow Madelyn’s story going forward. I hope you agree.
If you have any questions, complaints, or compliments, please send them to me. You can find me on Facebook (http:// www.facebook.com/ikehamill), Twitter (@ikehamill), or eMail ([email protected]). I’d really appreciate a review on Amazon. Sign up for the mailing list at the bottom of my website (http://www.ikehamill.com) and I’ll give you a chance to download a free copy of my next book before it’s announced to the public. Read on for descriptions of my other books.
Thanks for reading,
Ike
Madelyn’s Last Dance
The community of Fairbanks is threatened, and there's only one person who can save them. Unfortunately, the leader of their group just had her hanged.
The community has to pull together to fight this new threat. All the factions have to learn to cooperate. And there are new threats that they can't even comprehend. Many will die. The few who survive have little chance of success without Madelyn.
The Claiming
It wasn't her fault.
It wasn't Lizzy's fault that she saw the cloaked people out in the yard. It wasn't her fault that she was drawn by the moonlight to watch them as they advanced on the house. And it definitely wasn't her fault when people began to die. Lizzy didn't want the strange dreams where she saw how they were killed. Even her sister was starting to suspect her.
It wasn't fair because it wasn't her fault.
Lizzy was claimed.
Inhabited
They were looking for an adventure—a night of harmless fun. Miguel has a map. Kristin’s friend has the equipment. The mine leads to the cave, and the cave is where they’ll find their fortune.
But down in the darkness, something waits.
It needs them.
The caves hold a secret. They’re Inhabited.
Extinct
Channel Two predicted a blanket of snow for Thanksgiving weekend—unusual, but not alarming for the little Maine island. What comes is a blinding blizzard, and a mass disappearance of nearly every person Robby Pierce knows. He and his family flee, trying to escape the snow and the invisible forces stealing people right from the street.
Miles away, Brad Jenkins battles the same storm. Alone, he attempts to survive as snow envelops his house. When the storm breaks, Brad makes his way south to where the snow ends and the world lies empty. Join Brad, Robby, and the other survivors as they fight to find the truth about the apocalypse and discover how to live in their new world.
Post Grace
&
nbsp; Grace Anne Orlov died peacefully in her home on Thursday, the 7th. Her husband, John, survives her in body if not in spirit. John studied killers and death, but failed to learn how to live alone after more than forty years of marriage.
Along with two daughters, a son, two grandchildren, and a stray bastard, John has a lot to figure out.
What he doesn’t know might kill him.
Migrators
Do not speak of them. Your words leave a scent. They will come. Somewhere in the middle of Maine, one of the world's darkest secrets has been called to the surface. Alan and Liz just wanted a better life for themselves and their son. They decided to move to the country to rescue the home of Liz's grandfather, so it would stay in the family. Now, they find themselves directly in the path of a dangerous ritual. No one can help them. Nothing can stop the danger they face. To save themselves and their home, they have to learn the secrets of the MIGRATORS.
Accidental Evil
Kingston Lakes is a quiet town. During long summer days, the residents barely have a care. They almost never have to worry about the rise of a bloodthirsty demon who wants to feast on their flesh and enslave their immortal souls.
Almost never.
The Hunting Tree
For thousands of years a supernatural killer has slept in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. An amateur ghost hunter has just woken him up. Now that he stalks the night once more, he's traveling east. Although the monster's actions are pure evil, he may be the only thing that can save humanity from extinction.
